The Kamloops Blazers continued being brutal on Blanshard.
The Blazers have had some good teams, this year included. But there has been one constant through thick and thin. The Victoria Royals have owned them at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, including on Saturday night, in a 5-4 Western Hockey League victory before 5,595 enthused fans. That followed up Friday's 3-2 Victoria victory over the Blazers.
Victoria has won 11 of the past 12 games against the Blazers on Blanshard dating to Sept. 30, 2017.
Overall, Victoria is 26-7-2 at home against Kamloops since the Royals franchise moved to the Island in 2011-12.
Brandon Cutler, with his seventh goal in four games, scored the winner at 7:42 of the third period. Max Martin brought the Blazers to within a goal on the power play at 13:23. Tarun Fizer, on a two-point night, made it 4-3 at 7:42 of the final period by simply out-hustling the Kamloops defence to the puck and finding the top corner.
The ever-moving Connor Zary, the No. 12-ranked North American skater for the 2020 NHL draft, had two assists for Kamloops. But that didn鈥檛 stop Victoria from winning its third consecutive game.
Trailing 3-0, the tide appeared to turn for Kamloops on three consecutive goals within 83 seconds in the second period. It began with a turnover by Victoria defenceman Mitchell Prowse that allowed Caedan Bankier to score followed by Quinn Schmiemann and Orrin Centazzo's 35th of the season.
Alex Bolshakov, Kaid Oliver and Carson Miller on a penalty shot had given Victoria the three-goal lead.
To a man, the Royals came into the weekend lamenting those short lapses within games that have cost them recently. It happened again in the second period, but on this night, the Royals found an answer and rebounded in the third period.
The crease situation was again a storyline with both regular starters -- WHL January goaltender of the month Shane Farkas of the Royals and Juan de Fuca-product and 2020 NHL draft-ranked Dylan Garand of the Blazers -- out due to injury.
Victoria's Adam Evanoff, with 31 saves, and Kamloops' Rayce Ramsay, with 34, were both kept busy in the hectic action. Backing up were affiliated call-ups Keegan Maddocks for Victoria and Dylan Ernst for Kamloops.
The Blazers (32-15-4) lead the sa国际传媒 Division, seven points ahead of the second-place Royals (28-18-5), who in turn lead the third-place Vancouver Giants by eight points. The jockeying for playoff seedings is on. With defenceman Will Warm still out of the line-up, Royals captain Phillip Schultz played on the blueline. The Danish international, who has played in three world junior tournaments, is a natural forward.
"[GM Cam Hope] has built this team with versatility in mind," said Royals head coach Dan Price.
Also out for the Royals was forward Sean Gulka as injuries, which have historically dogged the Victoria franchise in the home stretch and playoffs, are again becoming a factor.
ICE CHIPS: The Royals host the Red Deer Rebels on Tuesday night at the Memorial Centre . . . It was parents weekend with the Royals' family members in town for the two-game set against the Blazers . . . Referee Sean Raphael was honoured before the game for officiating in his 650th career WHL game.
